Of Things Unknown
by PierceTheVeils
Summary: Nico waits for Will in the Apollo Cabin, resisting the urge to snoop in the process. One shot.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson (if so, why would I be writing fanfiction?) or any of Maya Angelou's work. If you need to know why she's in the disclaimer, just look for her. Tell me if you spot the reference.**

Wow, it was bright.

Nico squinted as the door to the Apollo Cabin came open. It was as though all the light from outside had been amplified. Were they keeping a sun in there?

A girl he didn't know stood in the doorway, her features blurred by the spotlight to her back.

"Hey. Nico, is it?" she asked timidly. She sounded young, maybe ten or twelve.

Nico nodded, trying to shield his eyes. "Is Will here?"

"Uh, Will Solace?" She tilted her head. "...No. He went to the lake, I think."

So he was early. Nico rolled his eyes.

He could always go down and find Will, find out what the guy absolutely _needed_ to tell him. But the other Apollo kids were so annoying. He was barely used to Will being bright and bouncy. He wasn't about to deal with a whole boatload of it. Especially not since the Romans were all here too, staying the rest of the summer. It didn't matter which camp you belonged to: Apollo was Apollo.

"You can come in, if you want," the girl offered, stepping aside.

Nico nodded, walking inside without another word. Luckily the cabin was empty. It usually was, in the sunny weather. The unknown girl stood around for a little longer, eying him in a way she probably thought was discreet. Then she left him alone.

_Good_. More peace and quiet for him, even if it was really boring. Just because he hated going outside didn't mean he wanted to be alone all day.

What could Will have wanted to talk about? He'd been acting oddly serious last night, and it was making Nico edgy. Just when they were starting to get along, he had to start acting weird.

Was there a light switch somewhere in here? Nico thought Hephaestus and Aphrodite were the only cabins with electricity, so where was the excessive light coming from? And how did one make it stop?

Nico finally noticed the walls, coated in every reflective material that could possibly exist at Camp Half Blood. The sun came through the windows, bouncinv around the room so everyone could go blind together. At least this meant they could sleep at night.

Going over to close the windows, Nico looked over at the bed beside them and found an open notebook. The handwriting inside was bold, scrawling, and strangely angular. In other words, Will's.

Alongside the book was several others, all closed and worn out. Some had pages missing, while others were stained and smeared from constant use. Was Will writing a novel in there?

Curiousity came over Nico, along with a strange feeling. He wanted to look inside, but it seemed wrong to snoop. If Will wanted him to know what was inside, he would've showed him already.

But then again, if they were private, why lay them out so casually? And why would he leave one open, if he didn't want people to read them?

The argument flew back and forth in his head until a compromise was reached: he would only read whatever was on the open page. Nothing more, nothing less.

But not before her closed the damn window.

When the light inside the cabin was bearable, Nico settled himself onto Will's bed, doing his best not to knock over the notebooks. Now that he got a closer look, it seemed every notebook but the open one had been completely filled. A quick peek under the bed revealed even more notebooks, more so than all the unfolded clothes combined. Despite the high level of paper, pencils was a rare commodity, the only one visible resting next to the open page. Shifting his weight, Nico began to read:

_The things I see inside,_

_Caged emotions, heart a captive_

_Bird, longing to stretch his wings, he_

_..._

_Sings sweetly of all years lost_

_With quiet desire, a flame in darkness_

_A buried secret, longing for freedom._

_Fearful of consequence, the sweet_

_Trill is ignored, remaining all but silent_

_..._

_Of the things unknown, I long to see_

_Things never spoken, yet always there_

_Unknown love, known by both_

_But delayed by the snares of fate_

_Longing for song, a lyric of truth, wishing_

_For a way to express their hearts, and the things_

_Still unknown._

Something caught in Nico's throat, making it hard to swallow. His heart beat loudly in his ears, filling him with a pounding insistence he couldn't hear words of. He read it again, and again.

It was just a poem. Not even a very good poem, if he was honest. It looked like Will had just written it down without thinking, the way words flew across the page. So why did it have an effect on him? What about it seemed so familiar?

"Hey Nico."

Shooting off the bed, Nico looked around wildly. Who else could have caught him but Will Solace himself, staring at him with a confused expression on his face. For whatever reason, the kid appeared to be wet, with his orange shirt stuck to him. He averted his gaze, glancing at the notebooks.

"Hey, Solace," Nico breathed. What was wrong with him?

"Should've known you were in here. Who else would close the windows?" Will bantered, noticing the notebooks on his bed. In Nico's rush, a few had fallen to the floor.

"Sorry about that," Nico eyed the door, debating whether or not to leave.

Just as he was about to bolt, Will stooped down, taking the books off the ground and shoving them under his bed. As he moved towards the ones on top of the sheets, his hand stopped at the one left open.

"So... like my poems?"

Nico looked down, trying to shrug off the shame coming over him. "Yeah. They're pretty good. I only read that one, though."

"This one?" Will picked up the notebook, holding it at an angle so he could read. He quickly shut the book and threw it under, trying not to meet his friend's eyes. Was he blushing, or was it just the light?

Nico listened as he finished making his bed, hiding all the notebooks and setting the pencil on the windowsill so it wouldn't be stepped on. Trying to ignore how awkward he felt, Nico tried to speak. "Um, what did you want to talk about?"

"What?" The blonde boy looked up, then down just as quickly. "I guess it's really nothing. Forget I said anything."

Nico furrowed his brow, trying to guess his friend's thoughts, "Okay, then." he scratched his head, moving his weight between his left and right foot. "You want me to leave?"

"No, you're fine," Will replied a bit too quickly. "How about we go back down to the lake? Percy found a bunch of water guns in the armory, and it's getting pretty intense down there."

So that's why he was wet. "I'm alright. Not very good at water fighting, anyway."

"Have you ever actually been in a waterfight?"

"No."

Will laughed, a sound the demigod enjoyed. "Well then. Let me teach you the basics: you grab a watergun, and shoot everyone you can with as much water as possible. Then, when you run out of ammo, you bend down like so," Will exaggerated bending into the water, using an invisible cup to scoop, "and fill the watergun with water. Repeat these steps until everyone is soaked through and/or Percy is down. So far, nobody's managed to take him out, so we really need your help."

Nico smiled, saying something he never thought he would say. "Alright. Let's get him!"

Together, the two boys waltzed out the door. For the time being, there were things that could remain unknown.

* * *

**A/Ns: Hey everyone! Happy Valentine's Day! Hope everyone's having a wonderful day full of every type of love!**

**I'll admit, this was a lttle thrown together. I don't know how to write Nico at all, so let's just hope I got him somewhat IC. Not sure about Will either, so any tips on their characterization are much appreciated. Again, I wrote all of this (except the poem, which is meant to look like a first draft) in the heat of the moment, at the height of V-Day feels. Even so, I didn't want it to be overwhelmingly romantic, since there's probably enough of that out there already.**

**This is dedicated to my wonderful girlfriend, She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named-On-The-Off-Chance-My-Family-Reads-Any-Of-This. I will however, narrow the search by saying she is the most amazing writer I've ever met on this site, and debatably in real life (sorry, but I've met some pretty cool authors in the last few years), and not a female Voldemort. Though I would date her even if that were true. Love you so much, and really hope you're reading right now.**

**Oh, did anyone find Maya? I don't think it's that hard. It's a pretty famous thing of hers. Tell me in a review if you saw.**

**Anyway, thank you for reading, thank you everyone in my life, (I love you all so much), and I'll see you on the far side!**


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